


All the leaves are brown

by killerweasel



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 21:46:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/666833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just need to get away from it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the leaves are brown

Title: All the leaves are brown  
Fandom: Angel  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Angel  
Prompt: 049. Fall.  
Word Count: 705  
Rating: R

This is AU after _Dead End_

**All the leaves are brown**

The leaves crunched underneath my bare feet. I paused by the lake, staring out at the flock of geese that had stopped by on their way south. These were real geese, the ones that still bothered with the whole migration thing. City waterfowl stuck around most of the year as long as people kept feeding them. The ones I was looking at would probably take your hand off if you held out a piece of bread.

My pocket vibrated, causing me to swear softly. I’d turned the ringer off so I wouldn’t be disturbed, but maybe the wiser move would have been to just leave the damn thing in the house. Bringing it out, I stared at the number for a moment before answering. “Let me guess, you have another file on your desk and you don’t know what you’re supposed to do with it?”

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. “I could be calling just to hear your voice.”

“Since when do you ever do that?” I dug my toes into the damp earth, enjoying the way it felt against my skin.

“I just have a simple question and then you can tell me what you’ve been up to lately. It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”

Turning away from the water, I started back towards the house. “Okay Angel, hit me.”

“Do you remember the Herterik Demon clan? We only have a little bit of information in the file; the rest was purged from the system.”

It sounded familiar. Took me a few minutes to remember the details, but once they started coming, I had more than enough to fill in the blanks for him. “They’re from New Mexico and specialize in opening pathways to other dimensions. The Senior Partners used them to design a couple of their ‘special hells’ where they keep people who really pissed them off. Think of it as a hell inside of a hell.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. It looks normal from the outside, but... it isn’t pretty. Holland showed me one once. I’d rather be dead than inside one of those places.” I sprawled myself into the chair on the back porch. “They probably have some sort of a contract with the firm to create more every few years. These guys are dangerous, Angel. I’d just sign the papers. You don’t actually have to use what they make.”

“So what you’re saying is there are people inside of those places right now? How many are we talking here, Lindsey?”

I thought about the guy I’d seen. We’d caught him during the window when the occupants were allowed to feel and remember everything that had been going on. He’d begged Holland to let him go or slit his throat. Some demon pulled him away, chaining him to the wall. There had been a lot of blood and screaming after that. Then he’d been healed to start the process over again.

“A few hundred, maybe more. It’s a rare thing to piss the Partners off enough for them to want to keep you alive so they can keep hurting you forever. You can’t get them back out, not easily. Each one has its own set of rules. Make sure you follow those before you try anything. And Angel, some of them have been there for a very long time. They aren’t going to be sane any more.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Are there any leaves left on the trees?”

I was glad for the change of subject. If the ink on my skin ever vanished, I’d end up in one of those places. Shivering, I glanced up at the closest tree. “Give it a week, they’ll all be gone. You can almost smell winter around the corner. It’s beautiful out here, Angel. My offer still stands. I told you I’d pick your ass up at the airport if you ever got out this way.”

“You busy next weekend? I’m thinking about taking a vacation.”

“Sounds great. I’ll work on getting the house vampire-proof before then.”

“Are you smiling? You sound like you’re smiling.” I could hear amusement in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m smiling.”

“Good, I like it when you do. See you soon, Lindsey.”


End file.
